Omigod. That’s what I’ve been doing all these years!? Going to the dentist? Have fun. Have to do spring cleaning? Have fun. Gotta finish your homework which is due in two hours? Have fun.
I was learning French some years back and would tell my French teacher to have “fun”. Naturally, I had to know what the French word was for fun. Turns out…the French don’t have any fun, lol. It also caused my teacher to ask me what is meant when I told her to “have fun” when doing something that was definitely not fun.
Now if only I had known it was a paranym…!
Grammar Explanations is…
…an evolving list of the structural rules and principles that determines where words are placed in phrases or sentences as well as how the language is spoken. Sometimes I run across an example that helps explain better or another “also known as”. If you run across an interesting paranym, please let me know, and I’ll add it to the list — I do so enjoy these! And don’t forget…if you have an area of grammar with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding, send that tidbit as well!
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| Paranym | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Part of Speech: Rhetorical Device | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Definition: A type of euphemism in a word or phrase whose literal meaning is the opposite of that intended by the speaker and used especially to disguise or misrepresent the truth about something.
Act or quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than those known to be true. |
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Examples are courtesy of Quora and others. |
Resources for Paranyms
Maeve Maddox’s article on “Paronyms and Paranyms“, via Daily Writing Tips.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Sorrowing Old Man (At Eternity’s Gate) by Vincent van Gogh is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
